You don't need to burn off your fingertips (and other biometric myths)

Re:You don't need to burn off your fingertips (and other bio... by bambax on Friday September 17, 2021 @02:48AM (#28562064)

> And when you do unlock your biometric-enabled device, you can do so in front of people whom you wouldn't want to know your PIN. You can be on public transport, standing in a queue or even sitting down at your biometric-enabled PC with a friend and authenticate without disclosing an easily reusable secret.

YES! Both Android and iOS insist we re-type our password at random times when using biometrics, and of course "random time" is always the worst possible time (in the subway, on a plane, etc.)

I don't understand this. Why force me to type a password at the risk of divulging it? What's the point of this?

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Re:You don't need to burn off your fingertips (and other bio... by vbezhenar on Friday September 17, 2021 @03:58AM (#28562521)

I think it's just timeout of few days. Point is that if your phone got stolen or taken away from you, attackers have a limited time to attempt a fingerprint attack, after which they must use more sophisticated pin bruteforce attack. Not sure if it adds much to security, but it's something.

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Re:You don't need to burn off your fingertips (and other bio... by juloo on Friday September 17, 2021 @06:48AM (#28563735)

The actual reason is to make you practice your password so you don't forget. You might scratch your finger or the sensor might get dirty or break. Biometric in (current) phones is convenience, not security.

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